Back with another chapter! Thanks for all the positive comments, particularly about P.C. Ackerley! Not sure yet how big a part he'll play but I wanted to put my own stamp on things a bit with my own character! Hope you enjoy! :)

Two hours later, Bets was feeling very frustrated indeed. She, George and Fatty had circled the field three times and not once had they spotted anything even slightly suspicious! Now she stood in the queue for the ice cream van, still looking around for a sign of anything unusual. She suddenly folded her arms and huffed impatiently, much to the alarm of the small boy standing behind her. It was so frustrating to have worked out the most important clue of the whole mystery and to have got no further! For the first time, Bets began to doubt herself. What if the note hadn't referred to the travelling fair at all? What if it was simply a coincidence? She wondered whether Fatty ought to have suggested that a few of them remained behind in Peterswood, just in case. Anne had been more than happy to stay with Buster and Timmy, and if Anne had stayed then George surely would have done too. Bets scowled at this thought. She liked George, but she felt very much as though her time with Fatty was being spoilt by the new girl that Fatty seemed to like so much!

It was at this point that a thought occurred to her. Fatty had chuckled at Bets' restlessness as they had settled down in a shady spot, and had sent her off for ice creams as something to do. But what if Fatty hadn't been entirely truthful? What if he had sent her off out of the way so he could spend some time with George? Bets pursed her lips and frowned so heavily that the ice cream man asked her if she was quite all right.

"Oh yes, thank you! Three ice creams please," said Bets, suddenly becoming cheerful once more. She was being silly, she knew! If there was one thing Fatty was above all others it was honest! He would never send her off under false pretences and it was naughty of her to have even thought of such a thing! She scolded herself and feeling slightly guilty but good-natured again, she trotted off back to the other two, ice creams in hand.

Fatty and George had been discussing the mystery during Bets' absence, sitting on the grass under a tall tree.

"I can't help thinking whether we might have read the note wrongly," George suggested for the third time.

"It's certainly possible," replied Fatty, "but it's only just gone one o'clock, after all. The fair doesn't close until four. We've still got plenty of time to spot something mysterious."

"It's so wonderful to be in the middle of an adventure again!" sighed George happily, hugging her knees to her chest. Her eyes sparkled with excitement in the sunlight as she turned to look at Fatty. He grinned back at her as he met her gaze.

"Hallo, you've got a woodlouse in your hair, George!" said Fatty suddenly, sitting up and leaning over to pick it out. George sat quite still as he removed the offending bug, and together they watched it scuttle across the grass. Bets' approach went quite unnoticed until she sat down next to her two friends, thrusting George's ice cream at her rather crossly.

"Thanks," said George, wondering if something had happened to Bets to irritate her so.

"Thanks, Bets," said Fatty, accepting his ice cream. "You really are a wonder! I do hope your trip to the ice cream van has calmed you down a bit, you hot-headed little thing!"

A slight smile returned to Bets' face at this, but she was still rather quiet as the other two began to go over the contents of the note once more. She had witnessed the woodlouse incident as she had crossed the field, and she couldn't help feeling that she had been replaced in Fatty's affections. She knew he had always had a soft spot for her, and it made her feel rather downhearted to think that he had now transferred it to George. It didn't even occur to poor Bets that Fatty's 'soft spot' for George might be of a different kind entirely!

There was no time to ponder the matter further, however, as at that moment three figures could be seen tearing excitedly into view. It wasn't long before Anne, Dick and Larry had drawn up beside their friends, panting heavily. Anne's hat fell off of her head onto the grass, where it went quite unnoticed.

"George, Fatty, Bets!" cried Anne, positively beaming through her shortage of breath. "You'll never guess what we've found!"

"What?!" cried the other three at once, sitting up.

"They're setting up some more stalls at the far end of the field," said Dick, sitting down beside his cousin and clutching a stitch in his side. "And what do you think the name above the apple bobbing reads?"

The other three looked at one another, completely nonplussed. They couldn't even begin to think! Suddenly, Bets let out a high-pitched scream that made them all jump.

"Goodness, Bets!" cried Larry, putting his fingers to his ear. "Couldn't you have come to a realisation without deafening us?"

"But I know, Larry, I know!" said Bets, still squealing. "It's Jimbo!"

"Quite right!" grinned Dick.

"Jimbo's Apple Bobbing!" cried Anne, rather loudly. George hushed her at once, for there were quite a few other people in the vicinity.

"George is right, Anne," said Fatty, suddenly looking more serious. "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves more than we can help. But golly, you three, what a find!"

"This must mean we were right about the fair, after all!" cried George.

"It seems a pretty rum coincidence, I must admit," admitted Fatty, grinning.

"What do we do next, Fatty?" Bets asked, no longer restless but eager and alert.

"I rather think we ought to find the others," said Fatty. "They should share in this new information. I don't suppose you saw them on your way over here?"

"We haven't seen them all day," replied Anne.

"I don't think it'll be too difficult to find them," piped up Dick, pointing a finger to his right, where the other four children could be seen making their way over to the large tree.

"Another piece of luck!" said Fatty. "Things seem to be looking up for us now!"

"I say, you timed that very well indeed!" said Larry, clapping Pip on the back.

"Have you discovered something?" Daisy asked at once, noticing the flushed and eager faces surrounding her.

It wasn't long before, she, Pip, Julian and Ern had been filled in on the appearance of Jimbo's apple bobbing stall. They looked at one another in astonishment, just as pleased and excited as the other six at this sudden development after a long morning of little progress. There was a small silence as each of the Five and Find-Outers collected their thoughts.

"How long were you standing by the stall?" Fatty asked suddenly, looking at Larry and the others.

"About twenty minutes," Larry shrugged. "Why?"

"Anne had three goes at the apple bobbing," said Dick. "We thought it'd seem less suspicious if we took part."

"The man was horrid!" added Anne, frowning. "I wanted to try a fourth time to give the others the chance to see if either of the men were anywhere nearby, but he scowled at me so dreadfully that we left at once!"

"He wasn't the pleasantest of men," chuckled Dick. "Anne was quite afraid!"

"I wasn't afraid!" Anne retorted at once. "I just didn't like the look of him, that's all!"

"Are you afraid we've made ourselves look suspicious to him, Fatty?" Larry asked, in an attempt to head off the bickering.

"I don't think so," said Fatty, considering. "It seems perfectly natural that you should want to bob for apples at an apple bobbing stall! The next step is that we need to keep an eye on this man, however. Ern's two gentlemen on the train knew it was Jimbo they needed to find, after all."

"It would be a mistake for us to go back, Fatty," said Dick. "We'll only draw attention to ourselves!"

"Ooh, can I go, Fatty?" Bets asked suddenly, leaping up. "You, me and George could wander over there!"

"You're such a baby, Bets," scoffed Pip, frowning at his younger sister. "If you're going to squeal like that you'll give the game away in half a minute!"

Bets opened her mouth indignantly to retort, but Fatty cut her off. "Less of the brotherly, sisterly bickering if you please, Find-Outers! And Five ought to remember that, as well! As it happens, Bets, Pip is right. This calls for somebody a bit less excitable, I think!"

Bets looked rather disappointed but she readily agreed. If that was what Fatty thought best then she certainly wasn't going to argue!

"I rather think you four should go," said Fatty, gesturing to Pip, Daisy, Ern and Julian. "With Julian in charge, I'm sure you'll do a super job of keeping watch without appearing to hang about suspiciously."

Julian looked rather pleased to be referred to like this, but he at once pointed out the flaw in this plan. "It can't be us, Fatty! We've had a shadow following us around all day!"

He gestured over his shoulder and the children looked. P.C. Ackerley was standing a little way off, scribbling in his notepad a little too furiously to seem natural. He glanced up once, noticed the children staring and hastily resumed his scribbling, his cheeks slightly pink.

"We think Goon set him on our tail," said Pip.

"Why would Goon have him follow you all day?" asked George, puzzled.

"I think he might be wanting to keep an eye on me," said Ern, shuffling his feet. "I am his nephew, after all. I expect he'll be lying in wait to pump me for information as soon as I get home."

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time Goon's tailed us," said Fatty. "And Ern, you jolly well make sure you don't tell him a thing!"

"Yes, Fatty," said Ern meekly, hoping he would be able to withhold the day's events from his snooping uncle successfully. He knew he wasn't always the most reliable at keeping quiet, but he didn't want to let Fatty down one bit!

"I vote we stick to the plan," said Fatty, taking control as always. "Julian, Pip, Daisy and Ern will go to the other end of the field and keep an eye on Anne's friend, Jimbo. Bets, George and I will go over and strike up a conversation with P.C. Ackerley. With any luck, we'll be able to distract him from his task of shadowing you four."

"What about us, Fatty?" asked Anne, gesturing to herself, Dick and Larry.

"You three would do well to keep an eye on Mr. Goon," grinned Fatty. "I'll bet my right hand he's sent Ackerley off so he can have a snoop round himself. So we shall turn the tables on him well and truly! Where he thought he was keeping tabs on us, we'll be keeping tabs on him, see?"

The others laughed at this. Even the Famous Five had come to very much enjoy getting one over on the irksome Mr. Goon! It was a cheerful and determined troupe of children that went their separate ways that afternoon, each full of excitement at their individual task in hand. It was super to be back on track again after a wasted morning! Finally, it seemed as though they would be getting somewhere with this mysterious adventure!

So excited was Ern as he went off with Julian, Daisy and Pip that he began scribbling furiously in his notebook as he went along, in a comical unintentional echo of P.C. Ackerley. He was determined not to forget anything and the only way to do that was to write it all down! So absorbed was he in his details of the apple bobbing that he walked straight into a person coming the other way.

"Sorry," said Ern, glancing up briefly before returning to his hasty notes. Dotting the end of his sentence ferociously, he stuffed his notebook back into his pocket and hurried after the others to the other end of the field. Somebody slightly more observant than Ern might have noticed that the man he had bumped into was wearing a beige suit. They might also have noticed that he stood staring thoughtfully after Ern's retreating back, before hurrying off in the opposite direction. As it was, however, the first man from the train slipped off back up the field quite unnoticed.